Update

I apologise for my slowness in updating, but I have been dying (well, if I was a man I would have been...) of a cold since last Thursday so my brain power has been rather reduced.

My very brave and heroic husband phoned the head teacher ( they are FAR too scary for words) and made an appointment for me to see the class teacher after school last Thursday. I was so nervous, not wanting to come across as a pushy mother, but also needing to explain what was going on and try to find a solution.

We sat on those uncomfortable tiny little plastic chairs that can't possibly fit any sized bottom on them and chatted through different ideas of trying to help Max. She has already put into action the ideas, but to be honest I'm not holding out much hope. I think the main problem is Max's lack of perspective in life. Even if most of his day has been good but there has been a tiny amount that hasn't, it is that tiny amount which upsets him and causes him (and the rest of us) huge amounts of distress.

So at home we have been trying to help him put things in perspective. For example if I told him it wasn't sweetie day and he, therefore, couldn't have a sweet he would start throwing furniture and screaming at me that I "never ever let him have sweets and he will never have any for the rest of his life"! Slightly over the top, I hear you all remarking, and yes it is over the top but to Max this is his reality. It is also our reality because this is what we live with most days. Somehow we need to teach him how to deal with life's disappointments but I really am not quite sure how to do this.

The other unfortunate thing in all of this is that he is remarkably similar to me.... I don't know whether you have noticed or not but I am fairly dramatic in my emotions and the things I feel passionate about. This gives me a very good insight into why and how he is feeling the way he does, but it makes it hard for me to know quite how to react because actually if I was him, I'd be throwing furniture and screaming too!